1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final riots

This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (August 2010)

The 1972 Cup Winners' Cup Final riots, also known as the Battle of Barcelona,^[1] was a serious public disorder incident that took place in the city of Barcelona, Spain, surrounding the 1972 Cup Winners' Cup Final. The 24 May match in Camp Nou, contested between Rangers F.C. and Dynamo Moscow, was marred by disturbances.

Serious disorder was sparked in the final minutes of the match when hundreds of Rangers fans invaded the pitch. Dinamo players claimed that they were attacked,^[2] while bottles were thrown at police, whose actions have been described as heavy-handed.^[3]

As a result of the riot, the trophy was presented to Rangers captain John Greig inside the stadium buildings.^[3]

At the time Spain was still under political oppression by fascist dictator Francisco Franco and revolts were violently repressed by armed Policía Armada (Armed Police).

Pitch invasions

In the sixties and seventies it was common to see pitch invasions at matches including European finals.^[4] In the final Rangers surged into a 3–0 lead but were pulled back to 3–2 in a game interrupted by pitch invasions.^[3] The end of the contest was overshadowed by a third pitch invasion by Rangers supporters minutes before the final whistle, which held the game up for several minutes.^[3][5] While it was argued that the pitch invaders may simply have been celebrating victory prematurely due to the misinterpretation of the final whistle. The Dynamo Moscow players alleged that the pitch invasion was designed to stop the Soviet side's momentum.^[2][5] In the final minutes, Dinamo were pressing hard to equalise but it has been claimed that the pitch invasion gave the Rangers defenders respite and unnerved the Soviet players.^[2] When the match restarted, Rangers were able to see out the final minutes. The pitch invasion resulted in the cup being awarded to the Rangers team behind closed doors, while Rangers supporters fought with police on the pitch.^[3] Rangers supporters later complained about the severity and indiscriminate nature of the beatings, in which many jubilant rather than violent supporters were caught up.^[6] Veteran Scottish broadcaster Archie MacPherson, who covered the game, has stated that the trouble was "eminently avoidable" and relates how Reuters' correspondent at the match remarked to him that, "What you are seeing down there is Franco's Fascist police in action".^[7]

Reaction

The behaviour of the Rangers supporters was controversial and widely criticized.^[5] Dinamo and the Soviet FA demanded a replay on the grounds of the pitch invasion, arguing that the actions of the Rangers fans were intended to influence the result by ensuring the Russian team did not equalise.^[5] No replay was ever scheduled.^[5] UEFA were expected to pass comment when they met for the 1972 European Cup Final the next week, but no statement was made.^[5] After initially denying his club's culpability,^[8] Rangers manager Willie Waddell criticised those fans who had rioted: "It is to these tikes, hooligans, louts and drunkards that I pinpoint my message – it is because of your gutter-rat behaviour that we [Rangers FC] are being publicly tarred and feathered...^[6]

The chairman of the Soviet FA raised the issue at the next UEFA committee meeting on 16 June. The outcome of the meeting was that the result was upheld: Rangers were allowed to keep the trophy, but were banned from European competition for two years (reduced to one on appeal).^[5][6] This marked the first time in the history of the competition that the winners were banned from playing in Europe the following year.^[3] It has been suggested that the riot was the first major instance of British football hooliganism to receive widespread attention in continental Europe, contributing to the eventual designation of it as "the British disease".^[1]

References